Qin Shihuang's Measures to Consolidate and Unify the Military Frontier Defense (Expediting the Yue Nationality in the South)

in 221 BC, Qin Shihuang unified China. Qin Shihuang took a series of important measures to consolidate unity and strengthen centralization.

1. Establishing a centralized organization

Qin Shihuang stipulated that the emperor was the supreme ruler of the country, and a central government institution with three public offices and nine ministries was established under the emperor. The "three publics" refer to the Prime Minister, Qiu and the Imperial Scholar, who respectively assisted the emperor in charge of the government affairs, military affairs and supervision of the whole country. The Prime Minister is called "the leader of a hundred officials". There are nine ministers under the "three fairs", who are in charge of all aspects of the government and the royal family. The three officials and nine ministers are directly responsible to the emperor, who has the right to make the final decision on major issues, which highlights the characteristics of centralized system.

II. Perfecting local administrative organs at all levels

Qin Shihuang divided the whole country into 36 counties, with county chiefs as the highest officials, in charge of the government affairs of a county and directly under the jurisdiction of the central government. There are counties under the county, and the chief executive of the county is called the county magistrate, who is the highest chief executive of a county. Within a county, it is divided into several townships, and there are pavilions, restaurants and so on in the countryside, which constitutes a systematic and strict local institution. County officials, like central officials, are appointed and removed by the emperor, and the emperor's will can go directly from the central government to the local government, and strengthen the rule of the whole country from top to bottom.

III. Destroying the city defense and selling weapons

After the annexation of the six countries, Qin Shihuang ordered the demolition of the city defense facilities and other military strongholds and fortifications used for military purposes in various countries in order to strengthen local control. He also ordered the collection of folk weapons throughout the country, and then concentrated the collected weapons in Xianyang for destruction, which greatly weakened the military strength of the old nobles.

iv. unifying writing, currency and weights and measures

during the warring States period, the writing, currency and weights and measures of different countries were different, which seriously affected the economic and cultural exchanges and development of various places. After the reunification of the Qin Dynasty, it was ordered that the whole country should use the seal script based on Qin Zhuan to unify the characters. Abolish the original currencies of various countries and implement the standards of weights and measures formulated by Shang Yang as a unified system throughout the country. Through these measures, the unity of writing, currency and weights and measures has been realized throughout the country.

5. Northern Expedition to Xiongnu, Defending Five Ridges in the South

After Qin Shihuang unified China, he sent general Meng Tian to lead 3, troops to the northern expedition to Xiongnu, and recovered the Hetao area. The original Great Wall of Zhao, Yan and Qin was integrated into one, and a Great Wall of Wan Li was built from Lintao (now Min County, Gansu Province) in the west to Liaodong in the east. This has played an important role in consolidating the northern border defense and protecting the economic development in the north. After the annexation of the six countries, he also sent 5, troops into Lingnan. After several years, he finally conquered the Yue nationality, unified the vast area of Lingnan, and set up Nanhai, Guilin and Xiangjun. Then, 5, people from the Central Plains moved to guard the Wuling Mountains and lived with the Yue people, which promoted the economic and cultural development of this area and accelerated the integration of ethnic groups.

6. Burning books to bury Confucianism

In 213 BC, Qin Shihuang held a banquet in Xianyang Palace. At the banquet, Dr. Chun Yuyue put forward the idea of "learning from the past" and enfranchising children. Li Si, the Prime Minister, refuted this, arguing that Confucian scholars should be prohibited from slandering state affairs with the past and private studies. Qin Shihuang adopted Reese's suggestion and ordered the burning of historical records of other countries except Qin Ji. Except for doctoral officers, privately collected Confucian classics such as The Book of Songs and Shangshu, as well as works of various schools of thought, are all handed over to the government for destruction within a time limit, and dare to talk about the execution of The Book of Songs; The genocide of the past and the present; Private school is forbidden. In the second year, Lu Sheng, Hou Sheng and other alchemists and Confucian scholars spread remarks attacking Qin Shihuang and fled. Qin Shihuang sent officials to investigate and kill more than 46 alchemists and Confucian scholars in Xianyang. This is the famous "burning books and burying Confucianism" incident in history. Although burning books and burying Confucianism is conducive to consolidating the centralized rule of Qin Dynasty, it destroyed a large number of ancient books and caused great cultural losses.